Kang Kyung-wha

Kang Kyung-wha
Kang Kyung-wha (2009)
Nationality	South Korea
Alma mater	University of Massachusetts Amherst
Occupation	Diplomat
Employer	Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Korean name
Hangul	강경화
Hanja	姜敬和
Revised Romanization	Gang Gyeong-hwa
McCune–Reischauer	Kang Kyŏng'hwa

Kang Kyung-wha is a South Korean diplomat. She was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in March 2013. Previous to this position, she served as United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. She was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in September 2006.

Kang obtained her M.A. and Ph.D from University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States. In the beginning of her career, she had worked for the Seoul-based Korean Broadcasting System and lectured at universities in South Korea and the United States.

In 1998, she joined the Korea Foreign Service. Prior to that, she worked for the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea on global issues in the fields of human rights, women’s advancement and parliamentary diplomacy.

From 2001 to 2005, Kang was Minister at the Republic of Korea Mission to the United Nations. During that time, she served as chairwoman of the Commission on the Status of Women for its 48th and 49th session.

Prior to her current appointment, Kang was Director-General of International Organization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea.